The purpose of this study is to use science to determine which of our great American states are the absolute worst. While unbiased, this research does take into account factors that almost all Americans would agree are undesirable.

How do you decide if a state is lousy or not?

In order to rank the worst states to live in the United States, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place. It isn’t a stretch to assume that people like low crime, solid education, great weather, things to do and a stable economy.

So we researched the internet for those criteria, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

How we crunched the numbers for the worst states of 2018

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using FBI crime data and the most recent ACS 2012-2016, this is the criteria we used:

Population Density (The lower the worse)

Highest Unemployment Rates

Low Median Income

Low Home Values

Low Levels of College Education

A lot of uninsured people

High Crime

High poverty

We then ranked each state from 1 to 50 for the criteria with a #1 ranking being the worst for the particular criteria.

Next, we averaged the rankings into one “Worst Place To Live Index”.

Finally, we ranked every state on the “Worst Place To Live Index” with the lowest index being the Worst State To Live in America for 2018, New Mexico.

If you’d like to see the complete list of states, from worst to best, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the abridged chart.

Note: We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets its crime numbers from the states themselves. This list is based on data. It’s also not a testament to the effectiveness of local law enforcement.

1. New Mexico

New Mexico is, by far, the worst state in the entire country for 2018, according to this scientific analysis. Sorry to break the news to you folks out there in the Land of Enchantment.

Economically, and socially, New Mexico has some issues. Its residents are underpaid, and the crime here is very high. In addition, if you’re not into exploring the outdoors, finding entertainment can be a chore.

2. Arkansas

Arkansas begins the string of truly southern states which you should try to avoid if at all possible.

The 2nd worst state in the country, Arkansas “boasts” the second lowest wages and third lowest home prices.

Luckily, you probably do have a job in the Razorback State, which prevented it from being the worst state in the country.

3. Mississippi

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 2,989,192Median Income: $40,528 (1st worst)Median Home Value: $105,700 (1st worst)
The median household income in Mississippi is only about $40,000, which is more than $15,000 less than the national average. Unsurprisingly, home values are also the lowest in the country.

With those two facts in hand, Mississippi can make a very strong argument it should actually still be the worst state (It took the top spot 2 years ago).

Nearly 8.5% of residents here are unemployed, and just about 1 in 7 homes is vacant or unoccupied. The national average for public school student spending is $12,483. In Mississippi, students only get a fraction of that financial support.

5. Louisiana

Ah, Louisiana Unfortunately, the butt of many jokes. In this case, Louisiana’s rankings in terms of annual household income ($45,6520 a year) and the sheer number of homes that are empty (16%), means the Louisiana economy isn’t…robust.

No one can argue that Louisiana is a beautiful state. Unfortunately, science doesn’t measure beauty. It measures facts, and the fact is, Louisiana is towards the bottom when it comes to factors that people consider desirable.

8. Arizona

The first of several states out west, Arizona has several things going against it. Besides the fact that the summer months can be downright sickening, heat wise, Arizona has a surprisingly high crime rate and very poor support in its school system for its students.

Residents are still recovering from the housing mess here, and nearly 1 in 5 homes sits unoccupied or is vacant for most of the year. That’s off the charts high.

9. Georgia

You know the saying. There’s Atlanta and there’s the rest of Georgia. According to science, both are undesirable.

When you factor in crummy insurance coverage, high crime and a high unemployment rate, things in Georgia could use a fixin’. But the population here is booming. Meaning longer commute times (and less time with the family) if you live in the Atlanta area.

10. Nevada

More than 9.3% of the workforce of Nevada is unemployed at this time, which isn’t surprising, since nearly half of the state’s population lives in the Las Vegas metro area. And, if you’ve looked at a map in your lifetime, you’d know that Nevada doesn’t necessarily have a lot do to, outside of Vegas.

Unless you hunt rattlesnakes for a living.

Crime in Nevada is very high, and a lot of people lack insurance.

There You Have It

Like we said earlier, trying to determine the worst states in America is usually a subjective matter. But if you’re analyzing states with the worst economic situations, where there’s high crime and bad weather, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best states in the USA, according to science. Apparently, things are ‘all that’ when it comes to northeast America.

Facebook Discussion

30 thoughts on “These Are 10 Worst States In America For 2018”

I grew up in North Dakota (28 years). I live in Washington now (39 years). Comparison? None.

Hands-down, Washington is a better place to live, work, and find friends. Mountains, rivers, temperate climate, many backpacking trails, places to go and things to do. Educated, tolerant, and aware people live here compared to grade-school level farmers and ex-farmers working for minimum wage in North Dakota.

Once I finished college and found that regardless of North Dakota’s perennial 4% unemployment rate, I couldn’t find ANY job, I moved west. I pity the residue who stayed, pity them.

When I’ve visited back, I’ve met people who looked like the ones I used to know but who had never changed, never grown.

Well I guess you consider yourself educated however the stats would show a different story than you paint of the state. Most retired or former farmers that you note are most likely worth millions in the bank. William County ND has an average salary of $70,000 per year even with the downturn in the oil industry. I guess there was a reason you did not find work in ND but its probably more related to your lack of intelligence than anything related to ND. Enjoy yourself but I really don’t think we are looking for any low wage earners so no need to look for employment here in North Dakota.

WA is a cesspool. If you’re a vampire, might be nice, but the constant grey and 55 degrees 10 months out of the year – oh wait all 12 because at night it’s still 50 bloody degrees. Have to have winter clothes out all year round. Barely get a summer. And people are cold and passive-aggressive. I’m trying to leave after 20 soggy, soul-sucking years.

Yeah, pretty sure that isn’t Santa Fe up there in #7.
That is Santa Fe Station in Forth Worth, Texas.
It is bad enough that some people don’t even know that NM is a state. Then you have to go and put in an image that isn’t from our state.

Why not just poll residents and rank the states based on the percentage of people who would rather live elsewhere? I can think of no more accurate indication of desirability than one where you measure the amount of people who want out.

As soon as you factored in public education, you exposed your bias and tilted the results. Maybe they counted for something once upon a time but today they are little more than babysitting and indoctrination centers.

How about the quality of the people living there? Virginia might have the highest rate of a$$holes in the country, and I have lived in several states, including NY. New Yorkers have a reputation for being jerks, but my 12 years there proved it unfounded. Virginians are jerks for the sake of being jerks. And oh, by the way, they’re better than you are. In fact, the worst of them is better than the best of you from anywhere else. Virginia is where Southern hospitality goes to die.

I’ve been noticing that about Washington. Seattle has a reputation for being “Brainy” but honestly living here for two years now, I’ve not seen a trace of that to be true. The medical professionals here are top notch without a doubt, but the general populace, not so much. Not only are they poorly read and completely unaware of what’s going on in the world, but arrogant as well. Many of them lack manners and politeness. Very bland, dry personalities. It’s like if the people here were represented by a color that color would be beige. The lot of them walk around cranky, depressed and moody. They’ll look for ANY reason to bitch and complain so working any kind of customer service here is pure hell. Washingtonians need to have their asses kissed and powdered otherwise they get pissy. Similar to how you have to speak to children. Once I finish my degree I’m flying the coop. The natural environment is something special. It’s very beautiful and rich in nature, but the people and their pissy attitudes ruin it. I’m also a New Yorker born and raised so the adjustment has been quite challenging to say the least. The population lacks any sort of vibrancy.

Florida is a hot, humid, and buggy place where depending on where you live, it can be a warm haven for the wealthier snowbirds who come here or a low salary hell for those of us who have to tough it out all year and deal with raising utility rates during the summer months when we need air conditioning to merely survive. Mixed feelings all around. Moved back here from California when things got economically out of hand and couldn’t afford to stay anymore. Not crazy about this place but don’t want to deal with winters either. What to do…what to do. (Is there a little island off of the coast of North Carolina or something?)

Yes and it is one of the most cruel law enforcement criminal not so much justice states. FL boast of feeding inmates unfit for human comsumption food on less than $2/day in nasty muderous abusive (both from employee and other inmates) rape filled spider vermin and rat n mice ridden non a/c literally torture chambers called dorms.
I don’t like somethings but FL on the whole is not a place I want to live.

Sometimes you want to tell your friends what a great place you just but then you realize most things are fleeting and maybe mostly subjective. And then you forget what was so great about it. Probably like ole whats his face said, ‘stuff’ happens. Yuk yuk.

Nebraska is the worst state in the Union. Over and over I see Nebraska listed as one of the best, but based on what criteria? There is nothing to do in Nebraska. A majority of the population have no critical reasoning skills. They might be able to read and write, but there’s no reading comprehension. They blindly believe anything reported on Fox News, love football and the Tea Party, hateful, bigoted, but only in a politically correct way. In short, Nebraskans hate anyone that doesn’t conform to what they consider to be “normal” meaning you must look like them, think like them, watch the same TV shows, read the same books, listen to the same music, go to the same church, or you will never be accepted. Our Public TV station is run by a bunch of brownie scouts all working on merit badges. They can’t even publish an accurate program guide. Highest State income taxes, property taxes, and where does all the money go? There very few services, especially for the poor or disabled. They refused to extend Medicare to the uninsured under Obama Care, even though this was essentially free money!! Our new Governor is a good old boy who’s trying to set things up for himself and his cronies, and to hell with the rest of us. There is no thought given to the quality of life in Nebraska from our “elected” officials, and it shows. Don’t come here. Don’t go to school here. Don’t even drive through the State, drive around it, or better yet, fly over it, and don’t even bother looing down.

You nailed it! I live here, and everything you said is so true. It’s the most narrow minded states, why else do they keep electing some ones who have done nothing since getting elected. Check what Adrian Smith has done, especially when you think about how many years he’s been in office. Yet, they keep reelecting him.

Iowa is right up there in crappiness with Nebraska. They never accept you unless you agree with all of their narrow minded ways, or inherited a ton of farm money like them. They think they feed the world, yeah with crappy gmo food devoid of nutrients and sickening everyone. Living near them and trying to grow some healthy food in nigh on impossible because of their constant herbicide drift and vaporization. Then try to turn them to the worthless IDALS regulatory agencies, and nothing gets done. Iowa sucks.

I’m sorry but whoever wrote this has the most backwards sense of “good weather”. You can’t say that Florida has the second worst weather in the nation (unless you’re allergic to the sun or something) and that the weather in places like Minnesota and Alaska is much better. I live in Georgia and one of the only things I like about living here is the weather

With the exception of D.C., the worst of humanity gravitates to wherever the cost of living is cheap. If I was forced to live in Florida, I would commit suicide because it is the armpit of the US – Stinking hot with stifling humidity almost year round- – Boring without the change of seasons, and with flat landscapes with the ugliest of trees. It’s a place that breeds pestilence and disease, including leprosy and let’s not forget the mosquitoes and, palmettos, as well as poisonous snakes, alligators and sharks- Sinkholes abound, as well as scam artists, fraudulent doctors and medical practices, baby killers, such as Casey Anthony and wife killers, such as O J Simpson, as well as wannabe narcissitic big shots that kill black teens and beat up their girlfriends, such as the POS George Zimmerman – Florida also boasts the Number 6 state with the most sex offenders. Florida also has the most old people, who are the worst drivers and spread the most STD’s in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. And the worst of the worst gun-toting and bible belching hypocritical confederate flag flying racist hypocrites. I wish I could be alive to see Florida sink into the ocean from climate change, which the majority of retards living there still deny.

I live in Utah and here are my personal pros/cons of living here:
Jobs:
Pro: Utah boasts that it has a healthy economy. Con: Many of the jobs are low-level jobs (minimum wage is around $7.25) and since Utah’s job market is unregulated, many of those jobs are pyramid schemes, otherwise known as multi-level marketing schemes. My background is in marketing and I cannot tell you how many job posts were MLMs where they requested that the employee pays to work there.
Housing market:
Pro: In Salt Lake City, there are charming bungalows and Victorians. Con: The SLC median housing price is around $315K and it’s more in some of the suburbs. Plus, there is a major meth problem.
Pro: Fun outdoor activities- skiing, boating, and hiking. Con: Not a diverse selection of bars or restaurants.
The People:
Pro: I can’t really think of one. Con: Lots of self-righteous self-centered people. I swear everyone here is related to one another. They all dress the same, act the same and look the same. In other words, homogeneous.

To put it simply Cold weather Sucks!! AZ all the way, Hot and Dry, just the way I like it. If I decide I want snow I’ll drive 2 hours north. I lived in N.Y. and it sucks, over crowded, high pollution, too damn expensive. High prices low quality. I love Arizona.